Frangipane Mince Pies

Chances are, most people have probably made their mince pies by now. Me, I like to whip up a batch either Christmas eve, eve, or ideally - Christmas actual eve. This way they are super fresh, and you can even enjoy a few when still warm. Here is a little Christmas themed recipe that is super easy, yet super tasty.

My mince pie of choice, is one a little bit special, and a little bit different. If you are less a fan of pastry, and more a fan of fluffy almond sponge, then you will enjoy these as much as I do. Basically, you do away with the pastry lid and instead, top it with a fluffy, light, almond based sponge - a mincemeat bakewell, if you will.

Source

To make these little scrummies, you will need:

For the pastry -

• 175g plain flour
• 75g butter, cut into cubes
• 25g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 large egg, beaten

For the frangipane topping-

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 level tbsp plain flour
• 1⁄2 tsp almond extract, or to taste (in my case, a lot)

For the filling - 

• One jar of mincemeat - I used some of my Mum's homemade, but shop-bought is just fine. My sister doesn't actually like mincemeat, so I made a few with cherry jam in the bottom, as a substitute - she reports that they were yummy.

You can make the pastry by hand, but I used a food mixer. This way, the pastry stays as cold as possible, making it easier to work with (again, you can just get the shop-bought, sweet shortcrust pastry if you prefer/have limited time). To make the pastry and the mixture:

1. First things first, preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Then, in the food mixer, pop in the flour, icing sugar and butter, and mix until it looks like breadcrumbs. Once this has happened, pour in the beaten egg, bit by bit. If your pastry has not quite come together, you can add a splash of cold water (be careful not too add to much as this will be hard to rectify) to bring it together.
2. Spoon out this mixture on to a floured surface and lightly knead to bring it together. Once you have a dough like mixture, wrap it in some clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill for approx. 30 mins.
3. Whilst the pastry is chilling, you can make your filling. For this, pop the butter and caster sugar in to the food mixer - no need to clean it as it is all similar ingredients. Cream these together until smooth. 
4. Pour in the eggs and almond extract, and mix together (do not be alarmed if the mixture looks curdled at this point, it will be ok, I promise). Add the flour and almonds and mix until smooth, and put to one side.
5. Whilst you are waiting, you can grease your bun trays with a little butter, sprinkle in flour, and shake off the excess. Also, pour your mincemeat into a bowl and bring back to life with a glug of brandy, or port, or rum - up to you.

Now for the fun bit, the assembly(!):

1. Roll out your pastry and cut out circles big enough for your bun tin. If you do not have pastry cutters, you can always use a wine glass or tumbler to fit. Place these in the bun tray, lightly (careful not to squash them in, or they will be hard to get out).
2. Spoon in a teaspoon of your mincemeat, and top with a teaspoon-and-a-half of your frangipane mixture (no need to level this out as it will even out in the cooking).
3. If you like, you can sprinkle on a few flaked almonds for decoration.

Now, pop your little treats in the oven for 12-15 minutes, checking they don't catch. Once done, pop them on a plate, or cake stand, and dust them with icing sugar - then, tuck in and enjoy!

I will pop up a pic of this year's attempt at a later date :)

E x

Weekend #16

This weekend was spent in London so naturally we made the most of it with lots of sight seeing and getting out and about. We had the weather for it and who knows how much longer it will last...

On Saturday we planned to spend most of the day at Portobello Market. Because this would require lots of energy, we filled ourselves up on these. When we got there, we did the whole thing, from right at the top by Notting Hill Gate, all the way down to Kensington. There were sooo many lovely things that I would have loved to have filled not just one, but many houses with but alas, I do not have the room for any of them! Perhaps I'll take a trip back when I have my own place ;)

In the evening, we took ourselves for the early bird menu at Charlotte's Bistro, a really lovely little restaurant in Chiswick. This places boasts a great menu and if you are happy to eat before 7.30, you can get it for their early dinner prices - £26.95 for 3 courses and an aperitif. I would have taken some snaps but it was quite a small place and not too busy that early so felt a bit concious! I had a scrummy partridge salad to start, Cornish gurnard for the main and earl grey and fig crème caramel for dessert. J had venison tartare to start, slow cooked pork belly for main and the cheese selection to follow. After stuffing our faces, we rolled home for some movies and bed time.

Sunday we popped off to J's parents for some lovely home cooked Sunday lunch. A little taste of fresh air and home life, in the midst of London madness is always appreciated. After gorging ourselves again, we headed back to London, chilled out and then it was time for J to head back to Southampton and me to fall swiftly asleep - all that food tired me out!

The song that I have been listening to a lot recently is Ellie Goulding's new one, Anything Could Happen. I really enjoy this song and it is great to have her back making music again after she has been away for a while.

E x

Weekend #15

...is with an ooey, gooey, calorific but delicious, breakfast. Let's just say that I have no idea, nor do I want to know, how many calories, saturated fat or other artery clogging factors this stack of wonder has but it sure tasted good - and we all know that calories don't count at the weekend.

Let me introduce to you, bacon cakes...

Smothered in maple syrup, with a sneaky rasher of crispy streaky bacon nestled in the middle, these are to die for. Enjoy best by sprinkling on fresh berries, covering in maple syrups and pouring yourself a glass of cold orange juice.

I wish I could lay claim to this scrummy delight, but all thanks has to go to the culinary genius that is, Rose from The Londoner. Her blog is full of the tastiest dinners and treats that you could ever dream of. The full recipe for bacon cakes can be found here.

Rose's recipe calls for mixed berries but you could always add any sort of fruit you fancy. If you are feeling very glutenous, there is always room for whipped cream. Personally, I think the sharp and juiciness of the berries was the perfect counterbalance for the bacon and syrup.

E x

Weekend #14

This weekend has been a very quiet one, with a couple of very self indulgent and relaxing lie-ins, lots of yummy food and general chilling out. In between all of the relaxing, it has been one for crossing all the 't's and dotting all the 'i's, catching up on boring life admin, car insurance, backing up files etc. - thrilling!

We also had a couple of housemate birthdays so the house has been filled with lots of cake and laughter which has been nice. We were paid a little visit by my housemate's boyfriend's pooch, Austin (see top right for lots of snaps of him, or Instagram!) who I absolutely fell in love with. Lots of cuddling and tennis ball throwing ensued. 

On the Saturday, my housemate did my nails with Shellac, which was a pampering treat. She has the kit to do it at home, saving on lots of pennies and is actually very easy to do and not to expensive to set yourself up with. I love it so far and can't stop touching it!

Soundtrack to this weekend definitely has to be this song, One Day/Reckoning Song by Asaf Avidan and is the Wankelmut Remix (mouthful of an introduction!). This was another track I heard on the radio when driving around and thought it was super catchy, couldn't stop humming it and had to track it down. I hope anyone who listens to it enjoys it as much as I do, it's a toe tapper!

E x